Dynamic Equilibrium Example

This Demonstration shows a system with two states is in dynamic equilibrium when the average rate of change (here called the "flux") of the population from state A to state B is equal to that from state B to state A. For example, in a reversible chemical reaction, state A might represent the reactants and state B the products.

You can set the probabilities to go from the red state to the blue or from the blue state to the red; they are represented by the widths of the flux arrows. The current number in each state is represented by the height of the flux arrows and additionally on a scrolling graph. Once equilibrium is obtained, the forward flux, given by the number of reds times the probability of changing to blue, is equal to the similarly defined reverse flux. Thus the arrows will be seen to be approximately equal in area.